Cassin's Auklet at Seattle Aquarium

[Paul Lagasi]

Time to head back home after 8 days out west, tomorrow morning Sue and I will head to Vancouver Airport for the trip home. The image below is from the Seattle Aquariums seabird exhibit. Most of the birds are injured and can not be released back into the wild. This active Cassin's Auklet put on quite a show.

I used Topaz Clean and Detail to achieved the desired look.

Visiting with friends and internet is limited, I'll comment on others thread when I get back home.

Thanks and Ciao for now.

[Dennis Bishop]

I really like the look you achieved. It makes the auklet stand out very nicely. I also like that it's just emerging into view.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I was going to say normally this would be a horizontal picture, I like the auklet coming into frame as well, very creative. The processing makes the feather detail super sharp and nice catchlight. I wonder what it would look like with smoothing out the bg and water a bit. Nice work Paul.

[Nancy Bell]

The vertical framing is unusual but I think the focus on the eye & no details in the bkgd makes this work. Almost seems like in the next moment the auklet is going to wink at you! Also the way the bird is just coming into the frame really captures your attention in a way that in a horizontal presentation would not be so dramatic. I can see this auklet is a character and you captured that very creatively. Good choice with the limited tones you used.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Paul,

Greetings. The color is particularly engaging to my eye (a little surprised). The close pose and eye contact, also. I like the graphic look. About 4 degrees cw rotation works for me, but the loss of a good section of the body is a problem that would need extension of the upper bg to the left. If it were mine I would apply some nr to the bg. Thanks for posting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Wendy Kates]

Really interesting and evocative image, Paul. I agree with Michael about the NR: it's fairly noticeable in contrast to the bird.

[Cheryl Slechta]

I like everything about it, Paul. I hope you had a good trip